THE WIDOW AND ORPHAN

I could still remember very well how my mother used to mention to us how God made all things possible for us especially at that time when my father suddenly died and we were just very young, aged 4, 3 and 1. Job is her favorite bible character, because he is the one whom she would always mention to us and whom she admired most. It could be due to the fact that like Job she almost lost everything when my father died because she was very young then. She and my father were just starting out as a family and then all of a sudden he died. She would always say that what was most hurting is the fact that my father had been a very good husband to her and good father to us which made it even more difficult for her to lose him. In addition to that is the fact that she was left all alone to carry the burden of the responsibilities of our family. It was just before my father died that we had our home built and got a big loan in the bank. She could have married a rich man whom I heard was interested in her but she did not entertain any suitors and never remarried. She had to bring up all of us by herself. At that time when she was down to almost nothing, she never thought that she could have passed through all those difficulties if not for God's Divine Providence.  Amen. Hallelujah!

Job 1:6-22

...Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, 21 and said, “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!” 22 In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything

disrespectful of God.

We are the temples of the Holy Spirit. We do not have the Holy Spirit as a birth right but a gift. We are born with original sin and this redemption from sin and the kingdom of darkness is what makes it possible for us to receive of the Holy Spirit. A lot of people in our society like the part that we are temples. We claim that our bodies are temples so we have to treat it well and take care of it by doing exercise. But too often we say that we are temples but we don’t say of what. When we listen to the way we speak we find that we are temples of ourselves. Like the New Agers who consider themselves to be god. We see our bodies as the temple of ourselves because we see ourselves to be god. Each body should be treated with respect since it is the place where God can be worshipped which is derived from the presence of the Holy Spirit. This should be our purpose when taking all the aspects of our body with its wide variety of urges and desires. We can bring it all under the power of the Holy Spirit if only the body is well oriented to the worship of the Holy Spirit.  We've got to be aware of the fact that being a follower of God doesn't mean that we can be spared from all troubles and problems. God did not promise us this but one thing is sure, if we continue to stand by Him and all the things that He represents then we need not be anxious of anything at all for He got us covered. At this present time we can compare our life to a journey. We have been declared victorious and have conquered and overcome everything through Jesus Christ our Lord. And yet we still get distracted by the enemies who convince us otherwise. Let us march on to our victories and seize every opportunity that comes to us every day. We have to have something to overcome before we can become an overcomer, something to conquer before we become a conqueror and a test before we can have this testimony. Let us not lose heart because we are covered and protected by God like the young in the shadow of its mother's wings. Mind God's business and everything else will follow. This is the example that our mother left for us. We grew up always hearing our mother speak of Job's great faith and loyalty to God. She held on to every word of God in the bible and claimed every promise in it especially the one for the widow and orphan. Looking back at all those years our family had to pass through those trials and difficulties of growing up without a father by our side and our mother had to raise us all by herself there is no doubt that she did it because she inclined her ear to God and heard His word. If we are to die this very day, can we proclaim to the Lord with confidence these words in today's psalm? We ought to develop in ourselves the attitude of the saints and martyrs who have no fear of death. This doesn't mean that we have to be masochists and desire for a morbid death. Rather it should all because of the fact that we can firmly stand on the promises of a God who is able to supply us with everything.  For only God who is Himself the author of true happiness can grant us lasting and genuine joy to the full. In this present time when we are still bound to this world we may not be able to fully comprehend the glory that awaits those who live life in the presence of our God and hope in that eternal life  to come but we who are faithful will experience joy in full when His glory appears. There are times when we are being tested by the Lord to a point of almost giving up. But we simply and definitely must not. We are lucky we no longer belong to that time when you have to give up your life to profess your faith. That is why we always have to maximize our capabilities for God, nonetheless, it's not easy, but think of the inspiration that the early Christians martyrs left us to proclaim their faith. Temptations and distractions are everywhere it is so easy for us to stray away from the path to God. When it happens just pray hard to God that He will deliver us from that situation because every single minute of our life counts, let us seize the opportunity to achieve our goals that will bring us to our eternal abode. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of that because the Lord our God sees all good things that we do and let us always focus on that and be conscious that whatever situation we are in now, we can always try to build a life that is anchored on God. We can confidently say these words from the psalm. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 17:1bcd, 2-3, 6-7

R: Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

1 Hear, O LORD, a just suit; attend to my outcry; hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit. (R) 2 From you let my judgment come; your eyes behold what is right. 3 Though you test my heart, searching it in the night, though you try me with fire, you shall find no malice in me. (R) 6 I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my word. 7 Show your wondrous mercies, O savior of those who flee from their foes to refuge at your right hand.

My mother was a teacher but when my father died she had to put up an interior decorating business to augment her income. For every business quotation and proposal that she had to prepare and work for she would always say that there were greater and well known companies that she had to compete with. She was not the greatest of all in fact maybe the least but she always ended up getting the project. She had always attributed it to God and been thankful for everything despite of it all. She has indeed experienced the liberating power of God's word in her life. This message in the gospel today is almost the same as yesterday. God also warns us not to exclude other people especially those who doesn't belong to the usual company of people that we mingle with. We sometimes tend to make exclusive God's invitation and forget that it is for everybody. We must always be open to all people no matter how different we are with each other. We should always be united in God's love and welcome those people who may be different from us in a lot of ways but maintain the same stand and conviction that should unite us in our faith in God. For united we stand, divided we fall. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Luke 9:46-50

...“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.” ...“Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”...